11-year-old girl shot in the face by stray bullet, officials say. ‘Absolutely reckless’

A Minnesota man has been federally charged after officials said an 11-year-old girl was shot in the face by a stray bullet when he fired an AR-15 rifle.

James William Turner, 44, is charged with possession of ammunition as a felon, according to a Jan. 9 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota.

Just after midnight on Jan. 1, 11-year-old Laneria Wilson was shot in the face by a stray bullet in Minneapolis, WCCO reported.

Wilson was in her second-story bedroom when she heard gunfire. She went to her window to see what was going on, and a bullet came flying through, striking her in the face, officials said.

“I was on my bed and we thought it was fireworks so we got up to go look to try to catch it and I got hit in the face,” Wilson told KMSP.

“It was only by the grace of God that we found an 11-year-old child with an injury and not dead,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told the news outlet.

Wilson had to have surgery to remove the bullet from her face, her mom, Shenedra Ross, told WCCO.

Officials say a Snapchat video taken right before the shooting showed Turner outside, close to Wilson’s home, arguing with someone. Then it showed “an AR-style rifle lying across the driver’s seat of a vehicle.”

A neighbor gave officers a doorbell surveillance video that showed Turner, of Fridley, firing the gun multiple times in the direction of Wilson’s bedroom window, officials said.

“Officers found eight live cartridges and 24 discharged cartridge casings throughout the boulevard, sidewalk, and yard,” the release said.

McClatchy News reached out to Turner’s attorney Jan. 10, but did not immediately hear back.

“This shooting happened, and this child was injured because of absolutely reckless, celebratory behavior,” O’Hara told KMSP. “Drinking and shooting an AR-15 rifle into the air to celebrate New Year’s, endangering everyone around them and an entire neighborhood.”

Turner is not allowed to have firearms or ammunition at any time due to prior felony convictions, officials said.

Fridley is a Minneapolis suburb.

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